As part of the Asia for Animals Coalition (AFA), International Animal Rescue has put its name to a letter congratulating the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) for waiving mandatory animal testing for non-specialist, domestically-produced cosmetics.
For the first time, Chinese cosmetics companies may choose to replace animal testing with advanced, internationally approved in-vitro and other non-animal testing methods.
The letter commends CFDA for facilitating the first step in what we hope marks the start of a new era for China, whereby companies may develop innovative and safe beauty products, without testing on live animals. The CFDA’s decision will also enable Chinese cosmetics companies to sell their cosmetics within the European Union, which prohibits the marketing of newly animal-tested products.
The letter urges the CFDA to go further to stop all animal testing in China:
While we celebrate China’s regulatory change, we also hope very much that China will go further and next apply the removal of mandatory animal testing to foreign-imported cosmetics too, as well as replace post-market animal testing with in vitro-based safety tests. In doing so, China would establish itself as a major cruelty-free cosmetics producer and market, with cruelty-free brands from around the world bringing their beauty products to Chinese consumers, and Chinese cruelty-free products expanding to international markets. It would also see China well placed to take a leading role in the manufacture and development of high-tech non-animal research tools.